Panning Gold Riddle
Before dying, a father left a will to his two sons telling of a gold-panning stream that had supported his father's family long and hard. The will said that the two sons could make one, only one trip to the stream to pan for gold, but for as long as they wanted, and that whoever carried the gold back got it. On their way to the stream, the two sons lost a big fraction of their supplies, reducing their stay to two months. All they had now were some food, a mule, and panning supplies. During their stay, they managed to pan and smelt a gold bar 5 inches in diameter and 5 inches in height. Back in their hometown, the two sons disputed long and hard in court over who should get the gold bar. Now, the judge was a wise one. Who did he say got the gold bar?
Hint:
The mule. A gold bar 5 inches in diameter and 5 inches in height would have weighed far too much for either of the sons to carry, only the mule could have. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Death On Saturday Riddle
A man is found dead one Saturday morning. He was killed while his wife was sleeping. The wife tells the police all that she knows. She tells them that the cook was cooking breakfast, the maid was cleaning and the butler was getting the mail. The police immediately arrest the person who is responsible. Who is responsible and why?
Hint:
The wife is responsible. The reason is simple – she was supposed to be sleeping but she knew all that had happened! Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
John's Three Daughters Riddle
John has three daughters who are all unmarried. The youngest always lies, the oldest always tells the truth, and the one in the middle either tells the truth or lies. A very rich young man comes to John's house and says he wishes to marry one of his daughters. Naturally he wants to marry the oldest or the youngest so he will always know if she is lying or telling the truth. John agrees but says he can only ask one of the girls a yes or no question to decide which one he marries. They all look the same age.
What one question does he ask one of the daughters at random to figure out which daughter is the youngest or oldest?
What one question does he ask one of the daughters at random to figure out which daughter is the youngest or oldest?
Hint:
"Is she older than her?"
Explanation: (He would ask one of the daughters if one of the other daughters is older than the last daughter). He always should pick the younger daughter based on what he knows. If he asks the older daughter and she says yes, then the youngest daughter will be known. If he asks the older daughter and she says no, then the youngest daughter is the other one. If he asks the youngest daughter and she says yes, she is lying and he will still pick the oldest. If he asks the youngest and she says no, he will just pick the other like in the first case. If he asks the middle daughter it doesn't matter because both will be acceptable choices. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Explanation: (He would ask one of the daughters if one of the other daughters is older than the last daughter). He always should pick the younger daughter based on what he knows. If he asks the older daughter and she says yes, then the youngest daughter will be known. If he asks the older daughter and she says no, then the youngest daughter is the other one. If he asks the youngest daughter and she says yes, she is lying and he will still pick the oldest. If he asks the youngest and she says no, he will just pick the other like in the first case. If he asks the middle daughter it doesn't matter because both will be acceptable choices. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The Card Trick Riddle
A couple had to take shelter in a hotel for they could not proceed their journey in the rain. Having nothing to do at all, they started playing cards. Suddenly there was a short circuit and the lights went off. The husband inverted the position of 15 cards in the deck (52 cards normal deck) and shuffled the deck.
Now he asked his wife to divide the deck into two different piles which may not be equal but both of them should have equal number of cards facing up. There was no source of light in the room and the wife was unable to see the cards.
For a certain amount of time, she thought and then divided the cards in two piles. To the husbands astonishment, both of the piles had equal number of cards facing up.
How did she do it?
Now he asked his wife to divide the deck into two different piles which may not be equal but both of them should have equal number of cards facing up. There was no source of light in the room and the wife was unable to see the cards.
For a certain amount of time, she thought and then divided the cards in two piles. To the husbands astonishment, both of the piles had equal number of cards facing up.
How did she do it?
Hint:
The answer is very simple. All she had to do is take the fifteen cards from the top and reverse them. This would make another pile out of that and there will be two piles - one of 15 cards and one of 37 cards. Also both of them will have the same number of inverted cards.
Just think about it and if the mathematical explanation will help you understand better, here it is.
Assume that there were p inverted cards initially in the top 15 cards. Then the remaining 37 cards will hold 15-p inverted cards.
Now when she reverses the 15 cards on the top, the number of inverted cards will become 15-p and thus the number of inverted cards in both of the piles will become same. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Just think about it and if the mathematical explanation will help you understand better, here it is.
Assume that there were p inverted cards initially in the top 15 cards. Then the remaining 37 cards will hold 15-p inverted cards.
Now when she reverses the 15 cards on the top, the number of inverted cards will become 15-p and thus the number of inverted cards in both of the piles will become same. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The Kingdom Of Fidelity
There is a kingdom where all the women know about the fidelity of every man of the kingdom except that of her own husband. Also none of the women tell other women about it. The queen of the kingdom declares that unfaithful men have been identified by her. She declares that any woman who knows that her husband is unfaithful can shoot him in the midnight of the following day when she discovers it.
How can the women manage it ?
How can the women manage it ?
Hint:
Suppose if there is just one unfaithful husband, then his wife will kill her husband as she must be knowing that all other men are faithful but the queen declared that one of them all is unfaithful.
If there are two unfaithful husbands, then both their wives will believe there is just one unfaithful husband, that too the other one whom she knows. Thus both of them will expect the above case to happen at midnight. But when no one is shot, they will realize that there are two unfaithful husbands and since they know about everyone, they will know that the other unfaithful man is their own husband on the next day.
If there are three unfaithful husbands, each of their wives will be knowing about two other unfaithful men so they will be expecting the above case and will be waiting for the gunshots on the second day. When that does not happens, they will realize that there are more than two and since they all will know about the rest, they will realize that their own husband is unfaithful and they will kill him on the third day.
Thus if we talk about general terms and suppose that there are n unfaithful husbands, their wives will believe that there is n-1 unfaithful husbands and will expect the gunshot on n-1 day. When they don't hear that, they will realize their own husband is the nth. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
If there are two unfaithful husbands, then both their wives will believe there is just one unfaithful husband, that too the other one whom she knows. Thus both of them will expect the above case to happen at midnight. But when no one is shot, they will realize that there are two unfaithful husbands and since they know about everyone, they will know that the other unfaithful man is their own husband on the next day.
If there are three unfaithful husbands, each of their wives will be knowing about two other unfaithful men so they will be expecting the above case and will be waiting for the gunshots on the second day. When that does not happens, they will realize that there are more than two and since they all will know about the rest, they will realize that their own husband is unfaithful and they will kill him on the third day.
Thus if we talk about general terms and suppose that there are n unfaithful husbands, their wives will believe that there is n-1 unfaithful husbands and will expect the gunshot on n-1 day. When they don't hear that, they will realize their own husband is the nth. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Crossing The Bridge Riddle
There are two villages separated with a river. Each day, four people cross the river through a bridge to work on the other side and earn for their families. On one night when they were returning from work, they noticed that the bridge was about to collapse. Now all of them wanted to cross the bridge before it collapsed as no one wanted to be stuck on that end without their families.
They had just one torch with them and since it was the night time, they could not see without it. The bridge had become weak and it could only accommodate two people at a time. It was going to collapse in just 17 minutes.
The four people took different times to cross the bridge. First one took only a minute, second one took 2 minutes, third one took 5 minutes and the last one took 10 minutes.
How would all of them have managed to cross the bridge in time?
They had just one torch with them and since it was the night time, they could not see without it. The bridge had become weak and it could only accommodate two people at a time. It was going to collapse in just 17 minutes.
The four people took different times to cross the bridge. First one took only a minute, second one took 2 minutes, third one took 5 minutes and the last one took 10 minutes.
How would all of them have managed to cross the bridge in time?
Hint:
Let us denote the four people with A, B, C and D.
A takes 1 minute to cross, B takes 2, C takes 5 and D takes 10.
A and B cross first spending 2 minutes.
A comes back with torch taking 1 minute.
C and D cross taking 10 minutes.
B comes back with torch taking 2 minutes.
Finally, A and B cross the bridge taking 2 minutes.
2 + 1 + 10 + 2 + 2 = 17 minutes
Thus, this is the way they all managed to cross that bridge that night. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
A takes 1 minute to cross, B takes 2, C takes 5 and D takes 10.
A and B cross first spending 2 minutes.
A comes back with torch taking 1 minute.
C and D cross taking 10 minutes.
B comes back with torch taking 2 minutes.
Finally, A and B cross the bridge taking 2 minutes.
2 + 1 + 10 + 2 + 2 = 17 minutes
Thus, this is the way they all managed to cross that bridge that night. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The Bow That Can't Be Tied
Hint:
Eight Days Wake Riddle
Hint:
A Pool Of Blood
A man is found dead in a phone booth in a pool of blood. The glass on either end of the phone booth is broken and the phone is hanging. Just outside of the phone booth is a bucket and a stick.
What happened?
What happened?
Hint:
The man was a fisherman and was telling somebody on the phone about the large fish he caught. When he used his hands to gesture how big the fish was he hit the glass breaking it and cutting himself. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
A Love More Than Life
What does man love more than life,
Hate more than death or mortal strife;
That which contented men desire,
The poor have, the Rich require;
The miser spends, the spendthrift saves,
And all men carry to their graves?
Hate more than death or mortal strife;
That which contented men desire,
The poor have, the Rich require;
The miser spends, the spendthrift saves,
And all men carry to their graves?
Hint:
The Pizza Business Riddle
Hint:
A Sound Economic Reason
You will know that I am coming from the jingle of my bell, but exactly who I am is not an easy thing to tell. Children, they adore me for they find me jolly, but I do not see them when the halls are decked with holly.
My job often leaves me frozen, I am a man that all should know, but I do not do business in times of sleet or ice or snow. I travel much on business, but no reindeer haul me around, I do all my traveling firmly on the ground.
I love the time of Christmas, but that's not my vocational season, and I assure that is because of a sound economic reason.
Who am I?
My job often leaves me frozen, I am a man that all should know, but I do not do business in times of sleet or ice or snow. I travel much on business, but no reindeer haul me around, I do all my traveling firmly on the ground.
I love the time of Christmas, but that's not my vocational season, and I assure that is because of a sound economic reason.
Who am I?
Hint:
The Skyscraper Ring Riddle
Hint:
The man has survived a nuclear holocaust. He has wandered the earth for months looking for another survivor, but cannot find anyone and so comes to believe that he is the only survivor. Out of loneliness, he decides to commit suicide by jumping out of a tall building. When he is falling and hears the phone ring, he realizes that he must have been wrong- there IS another survivor. He has a heart attack and dies. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
The 30th Floor Riddle
Mr. Smith lives on the 30th floor of his apartment building. Every day he takes the elevator down from his apartment to the lobby. After work, he takes the elevator from the lobby to the 15th floor and walks up the stairs the rest of the way. On rainy days he takes the elevator all the way from the lobby to the 30th floor. Why?
Hint:
Mr. Smith is a midget. He cant usually reach the button to the 30th floor. On rainy days he has his umbrella with him. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
The Hotel Argument Riddle
Hint:
The man and his wife were playing monopoly, and the mans piece landed on a property with a hotel on it. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
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